Sweet Nothings
by Gilje
Summary: "Maybe you're not perfect, and probably I'm the most imperfect person you know, but when we are together it doesn't matter, because we are perfect." What could happen if two stranger start to talk on the way home? Real life AU
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

"_Now our desire leads us  
On another journey  
So let us depart again  
Come with me now  
Just as the promise says"  
- Long Journey – Gábor Presser_

The train rushed through the humid afternoon almost soundlessly. Sanji was gazing out dully onto the gray clouds leaden from rain, discovering his own worn reflection amidst the water drops running down the window.

Zeff had accepted too many events again. The Baratie had been reserved months ahead by soon-to-be-wed couples, who, hoping for the beautiful color-display of autumn, had all wanted to marry in that time of the year. Well,_ he_ hadn't been really to blame for the strong cold-wave that had covered Japan, washing away all their rose-colored dreams with its weeks-worth of rain and dampness. As well as it hadn't been Zeff's fault that he had gone down with the flu during the busiest days, along with some of the cooks.

To top it off, a week before, the old good-for-nothing had stumbled into the kitchen, his head spinning with fever, loudly declaring that a mere cold would not be able to get him off his feet, and then proceeding to launch himself onto the staff with the force of a whole army of angered toreadors. Sanji had just been about to drag him out, when Zeff had suddenly stopped still, had grown dizzy and then had tumbled to the floor. Thus, the old fool had become bedridden for not one, but two reasons: firstly, to be cured of the gooey mucus, and secondly, to let the swelling of his ankle – the result of his fall – decrease.

For the above reasons, when Sanji was not busy with running the restaurant, he was sprinting about in the kitchen to try to compensate for the lack of cooks.

Sanji sighed deeply, and let himself be swept passively by the crowd streaming in. The door of the wagon fell closed with a thunder, behind the back of an old lady who had just boarded the train. The granny glanced around in a perplexed manner, clutching her small, brown bag tightly to her chest, whilst adjusting the tufts of the green shawl she was wearing on her back bent with age.

"Madame," Sanji nodded to the lady. The old woman's astonished gaze wandered between the blond's hand that was stretched towards her, and his politely smiling face, while holding her tiny bag even closer. The cook recognized it right away – it was the typical reaction when you have to go to a place you don't really feel like being, or don't know your way around. "Madame, forgive me if I have frightened you. Are you traveling around these parts for the first time? If you like, I will gladly help you and tell you where to go."

A relieved smile spread across the old lady's face, her skin folding into thousands of smile wrinkles at the corners of her eyes and mouth.

"Oh... Oh, thank you, young man, you're very kind." She accepted the hand held to her. "I need to get to the Tokyo Tower. My grandson is waiting for me there with the group. He's a very talented painter, you know..." The lady said in a dreamy voice, her eyes bearing a gentle glow behind her semicircular spectacles.

"I see. Then you will have to get off after two stations," the blond replied in a calm voice, ignoring the flagrant insults of the teen he had dragged up from his seat to give room for the granny. "After we have stopped, just follow the crowd. Most of the people getting off at that station are headed in that direction."

"Thank you, young man." The pale light from outside shimmered across the lady's hair, rolled up in whirls of locks. "I'm so glad there are still such –"

Sanji didn't hear the rest, because in the meantime, the train had come to a stop, and the wave of people pushing inside took him with their momentum. He could barely keep himself from cursing aloud as the bodies hitting against his unstoppably pushed, turned and shoved him more and more inside... Finally, the wagon calmed down somewhat, and the train was rolling once again. The cook blindly grabbed a handrail when the mass of passengers started to move again, losing his freshly-gained balance.

This day couldn't have been worse. Not to mention that Sanji had always hated public transport. How great it would be, he thought, to finally arrive home, strip off his clothes which had almost grown to his skin from two days of wearing, take a shower and after a glass of Merlot, fall asleep to the sounds of the TV. His teeth ground together with tense anticipation.

However, as he let his disgusted glance wander over his surroundings, something interesting caught his eye. He didn't know why the sight seemed so strange to him all of a sudden, but then it clicked.

On the farther end, a peculiar figure was sitting hunched up on the edge of a seat. His baseball cap pulled down into his face, the guy was sleeping so soundly as if he was surrounded with complete silence and peace, despite the ever-louder noise and the sweaty and irate office workers pushing against him from every side. His legs, clad in gray jeans, were opened loosely, his arms woven together on his white-green sweater covered chest. Total calmness radiated from the man's posture and slightly slouched shoulders, and the cook could have sworn that the curious stranger – who had green, _green_ locks of hair peeking forth from under his cap – was at least six feet under.

The cook felt his overly tense muscles loosen up, and the pumping also quieted down somewhat in the thick vein on his temples. As he kept watching him, Sanji could feel the man's tranquility getting carried over onto him, secluding him from his annoying surroundings, and after a while, he could only register the madness around as a blurred, outer sphere.

"The next stop is XYZ station. Dear passengers, XYZ station is our next stop..."

Sanji's head jerked up. The bubble had burst, and he made his way towards the exit. How had he not noticed that the had already passed by five stops?!

The door barely closed behind him, and when he turned around, for a second he could still spot the gleam of the AC/DC badge on that baseball cap's brim among the train's distorted shapes, as it got into motion again. He realized he probably should have shaken the guy awake. The blond had been traveling these lines for, give or take, five years, but he had never seen him around before. The poor idiot had probably fallen asleep, and when he would wake up later and realize, he wouldn't know where he had ended up.

"Dammit," Sanji mumbled, then followed the crowd towards the escalator. "Well, doesn't matter."

He didn't even notice he was smiling all the way home.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

Hello guys! Thanks for reading Sweet Nothings again. I hope you'll enjoy it. And just don't forget about my awesome husband who translated it. Kiss kiss fall in love babe!

**Chapter 2**

"Graaaah..." The cook groaned after yet another sneeze.

The train was even chillier than usual that day. Sanji was hoping that it was just because the maintenance guys had not been prepared for the sudden wave of cold, and it was not Zeff's shitty flu claiming him as its new victim.

The plans for relaxation the day before had been over when the numb slumber invoked by the combination of a hot bath and a glass of Merlot had been cleaved in half by Patty's phone call. The sous-chef had explained among a long row of curses that a helper – hired by the blond, definitely – had mixed up the menus for that week's weddings, and they had had no clue which couple had ordered what. Finally, Sanji had found Zeff's notes and they had managed to set things right. What's more, the apprentice had also been able to keep his job. In exchange for these two results, however, they all had had to endure an intense, one-and-a-half-hour cussing session from the blond.

Sanji leaned his head against the handrail sleepily, and closed his eyes. The train line was usually pleasantly empty in the early morning hours, especially on a Saturday morning. But the cook feared that if he had sat down, he wouldn't have been able to stay awake for another minute. So instead, he let himself drift into that comfortable state of still being awake, yet feeling the first waves of sleep stroke over him.

He only faintly registered the train stopping and the doors swinging open.

Silent fumbling, feet stomping, rustlings of a plastic bag...

"Wait, let me help."

"Oh, thank you, but it's really not–"

"By the time you push the carriage in, someone'll grab and kidnap them. Or the doors close, and then it's to wave bye-bye."

"Um..."

Sanji raised his gaze. At the door, there stood the guy he had seen the day before. And in front of him was a young mother, who handed over a baby carriage to him with a doubtful expression, and then turned to lift her two enormous shopping bags up onto the train, as well.

The green-hair had been right; the door slammed closed not a second after the lady had jumped up into the wagon. She put the bags down to her feet, and now with a smile, she took the baby carriage over again, and sat down. The guy nodded to her, then turned to the left and threw himself down onto the seat next to Sanji. Judging from his posture, he would be fast asleep again within minutes.

"_So I was right,"_ Sanji thought. _"This idiot really slept through his destination."_

He prodded the man's knee with his own, to which he received a low grumble as a response, and the brim of the baseball cap rose somewhat.

"What?"

"You don't have a very inviting face, do you?"

The cap lifted up further, and Sanji could finally peek beneath it. Brown skin, long, angular face. The slanted eyes were a tad puffed with somnolence, looking much smaller than they probably were. And indeed, green locks of hair. But why on earth green?

"You're one to talk, with a prissy-ass pasta-face like that between your shoulders. Especially with those black circles around your eyes so big that it's as if you used make-up."

Something snapped inside Sanji's head. He could almost hear it.

He didn't expect a reply like that. Most people would have just been evasive or remained silent instead of standing up to the challenge. But this guy threw the ball right back.

The blond felt his head clear, and the circulation speed up in his body. The corners of his mouth dropped.

"Well, I at least know where to get off, and am not that stupid to fall asleep and travel past my stop. Is that stubble? Don't tell me you couldn't find your way home without a map, Marimo-kun."

Surprise and a moment of embarrassment swam across the green haired man's face, then his brows furrowed and his mouth twisted into a mock grin.

"But _I _at least know how my fly works, shithead."

Sanji raised his eyebrow.

"Huh...?"

The other nodded.

"Your zipper, dart-brow."

The cook's eyes grew wide. He quickly reached down to his pants, tugged the zipper of his fly up hastily and looked around to make sure nobody saw. Muffled, snorting laughter could be heard from beside his leg.

"You son of a–"

"The next stop is PQR Station. Dear passengers, PQR station is our next stop..."

He didn't have time to finish his sentence before the train began to slow down. The dark skinned guy didn't move a muscle, just kept looking at him provocatively, his arms crossed on his chest. That off-handed smirk still tugged the corners of his lips up. Sanji snarled at him, then turned left to stomp out the door.

~ oOo ~

Zoro pulled his cap into his face and the collar of his sweater higher on his neck, stepping out of the train two stops later, and heading for the stairs with quick steps. He fought himself through the crowded main street, then came smaller streets to walk on, twisting up on the side of the only mildly steep hill. The green-hair trod more slowly there, not taking his eyes off the surrounding buildings and street signs. Koshiro had explained the way to him for at least two hours the day before, and had made him say it back to him three times, to make sure that his student cursed with a peculiar directional sense wouldn't lose his way.

For his sensei had opened a new dojo recently, far from the noise and the crowd of the town, with the goal to provide a safer environment for children to train and travel home in. And of course, the slopes of the garden suburbs provided a great terrain for some warm-up jogging, and if the weather was kind, training could be held outdoors on the nearby patches of green environment.

So Zoro immediately accepted to take over the mini-dojo (was how they called it amongst themselves) when Koshiro had announced a few days ago that he would need a substitute, due to him having to tend to the more advanced students to ready them for the upcoming kendo tournament. Zoro himself didn't participate in the competition, anyway – so far he had won the national cup three times.

He didn't have any more aspirations along that path. His goal lied elsewhere, his tools of achieving it resting in the leather sheath across his back.

Zoro loved the stoic old man with his melancholic smile with all his heart. Not only because Koshiro had treated him as his own son after he had lost his daughter Kuina. There was something about the personality of the man with whisps of gray in his hair, which took a hold of anyone who spent more than a few minutes in his presence. No wonder all the neighborhood kids were practicing kendo, Zoro thought to himself, grinning.

He raised his head suddenly and halted. He looked around, then glanced at the piece of paper with a note on it in his hand, which Yosaku had given to him the day before the last. His eyes found their way to a thick, red line across the map – which was, by the way, drawn up especially detailed for him.

"_Zoro bro!" _The note said. _"If you went past this line, you're in the wrong place! Get your ass back!"_

He scratched his head, sighed and turned around. He had come two blocks too far... That was close.

~oOo~

Nami warmed her palms around the hot cup.

"So you're sure about this?" She asked with sparkling eyes.

"Yes, it seems that way," Vivi giggled, and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Kohza told me Franky asked him for advice about the ring."

"Luckily so. If we leave it to that mecha-fanatic, Robin would get a golden winged nut as an engagement ring."

"Or a steering wheel!"

"A lifebelt!"

"It's too late for that now!"

The two girls broke out in loud laughter. Nami slipped out of her turtleneck – the hot drink and the warmth of the blue haired girl's home did their thing.

"And you're not worried about what a hardcore anarchist would choose? Poor Robin might even get a golden skull."

"I think she would like that."

"True that!"

Nico Robin, the famous archeologist and museum curator, was indeed a big fan of ghost stories. Only her closest acquaintances knew about the fact that she also was the author of the celebrated horror novel 'Weary Harmonies', which she had published under the pen name Ohara Falls.

"But really, they can't mess it up. I talked with Kohza a little before they left. I explained him some of the possible consequences if he should make the wrong choice..."

An evil little smile appeared on Vivi's face, a very rare sight to behold when it came to her. Nami was sure her friend had taken it up from her. The lovely blue-hair had always been a little shy, but she stood up firmly for her friends. And it was no time for fooling around; Robin deserved the best, and that was that.

"Consequences?" Nami wondered, lifting her cup to her lips.

"Exactly," the other girl nodded. "And believe me, he would do _anything_ to avoid them. So he'll send the pictures of the possible candidates soon."

"Then why didn't we go with them?" The redhead asked, her brow raised.

"Because, my dear," Vivi leaned forward, smirking, "theoretically, we don't know a word about this."

"Oh!" Nami nodded to that. "He's planning for it to be a surprise?"

"That's right."

"And do we know where the engagement party's going to be at?"

"In the Baratie..."

~oOo~

Zoro was examining the scribblings on the note further, when suddenly, he picked his head up as something neon green came into his field of vision. There was a massive arrow made of paper stuck to a fence. He leaned closer to try to make out the wry letters written on it:

"_Zoro-san!"_

As he glanced up, he noted that the fences along the road were full of similar arrows. He stared at them wide-eyed, then shook his head. How did he not notice sooner?

On the next one, a few steps away, he could read the following: _"Thank God, you finally noticed! You've made a big detour, you know!"_ And also: _"Hurry up! You must be late already!"_

Zoro hurried his steps. He didn't want to pay any more attention to the writings on the arrows he was passing by. The ones he did happen to make out, however, were mostly varied insults and little drawings. After about five hundred meters, he spotted a street on his left-hand-side, on the corner of which three children were stomping their feet insecurely under an umbrella, dressed in the mini dojo's uniform. Their faces lit up as they saw him approach.

"Zoro-san?" One of them asked, a brown haired boy with glasses.

"Yes," Zoro breathed out, and the children beamed at him.

"Finally, you've arrived! I was just telling Onion and Carrot to just forget the waiting and hold the training session ourselves," another one with smarmed, greenish hair mouthed off.

"Onion? Carrot?" Zoro raised an eyebrow.

"Here," the kid with glasses raised his hand.

"And here," another one, an about eight years old boy with a lengthy face chimed in.

"Onion, Carrot," Zoro nodded, then glanced at the third child, and he knotted his eyebrows and wrinkled his forehead as he examined him. "Pepper?"

The three boys stumbled back in unison:

"How did he know?!"

"Just a hunch," Zoro sighed and rubbed his neck, which had become an easy target for chilly drops of rain due to him bending over. "Well? Ready to go?"

"Of course! Just follow the white rabbit!"

"White ra–?"

"This one, right here!" Carrot pointed to the top of their umbrella, where, indeed, two long rabbit ears made of paper were fastened. "Sensei said you surely wouldn't lose your way like this! Just don't fall behind, Zoro-san!"

Zoro gritted his teeth as he followed the kids. So he was supposed to be Alice? Then what, pray tell, was the old man? The Mad Hatter?

No, the green haired man thought, shaking his head. He had a more fitting person for that title. And if Koshiro was true to his word...

"We're here!"

Zoro found himself in front of a tall wooden gate. As its wings opened, he felt like the wheels of time would have spun backwards. The dojo's ground; the fountain with bamboo stalks, the wide fore- and the rocky back garden – it all looked almost exactly the same as the one they had left years ago. Koshiro had been surrounded by the memories of his deceased daughter too much, which had worn the man out greatly, so they had decided to move. And where else would people need enlightenment more than in the vicinity of a big city?

The green-head smiled. Kuina... The whole place sang her name, celebrated her. There was no trace of the numb, gray sadness that had clung to the old walls. Instead of the pains of loss, this place was glowing, rejoicing in the fact that the girl had once been walking this Earth.

Zoro let himself drift a while more with the waves of the past. They had fought through hundreds upon hundreds of nights, and she still had been the only opponent he couldn't beat. Respect and appreciation. Passion. If she hadn't fallen down those stairs, it could have even been love. But back then, they had both been far too young for feelings such as these.

He caressed along the sheath lying across his back.

"_We're not far off, Ichimonji."_

"Oooi, Zoro-san!" A sharp yell jolted him out of his daze. Pepper and Carrot waved to him from under the dripping pent-roof, and Carrot folded his hands around his mouth again: "Don't give up now! You're almost there!"

Zoro grinned.

"_These little idiots, wait until I catch you!"_ He thought to himself, then with a single leap, he was already on the terrace, in pursuit of the shrieking trio.

**TBC**

**Please give me reviews!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**Translator's note:** In Hungary, we prepare grits by boiling semolina in milk and eat it sweet. Just a heads-up for those who are used to the American one. ;)_

_**A/N**: And thanks for the many** sweet reviews!** I hope this chapter will bring some spring into your life :D One Piece belongs to Eiichiro Oda._

**Chapter 3**

„Sweet baby Jesus, Sanji! You look like a pile of shit! Sit your scrawny ass down before you head-butt the pasta!"

Sanji buried his forehead into his palm. The blunt throbbing lurking around in his head since morning had intensified into a shattering headache. He hated to admit that Patty was right – like he generally denied to do anyplace, in any situation –, but this was one of those moments where he had to succumb to it. He pulled his pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and knocked his fresh stick to it twice before adjusting it between his lips.

"Shut up, asshole. Your voice makes the meals rot."

"Hey, know your place, you little...!"

"Patty, Patty don't listen to him–"

"Shut up, Carne! I'll fillet him, tenderize him and marinate him, that little piece of...!"

The flood of curses gradually lost in volume as Sanji exited the kitchen. The cook didn't go far; he sat down on one of the chairs in the hallway connecting the kitchen and the dining hall. He sighed deeply and leaned the back of his head against the wall. _Please, let it only be fatigue..._

"He'f hight foh onfe. You heally looh fhale foway."

Sanji opened his eyes and glanced before his feet. At the wall in front, there squatted a black haired boy, with a huge meaty chunk in his mouth. Unlike the new employees, the blond couldn't be scared shitless anymore by the guy's sudden, mysterious appearances. The newbies usually made up new and increasingly more impossible theories to solve the puzzle of this ability. Sanji was sure that soon a nice little sum would pile up from all of the bets, and Luffy would gather more money out of them than from his actual job. Sadly, the dimension portal and the Spider Man theory seemed to falter.

The answer was much simpler than that, however. Where there was food in a five hundred meter radius, Luffy was quick to show. This belonged to the eternal, foundational laws that held nature and the universe together.

Luffy stuffed the rest of his food into his mouth.

"Wouldn't some fresh air do you good? Or just lie down in the office. I'll bring you pasty sandwich!"

The blond saw right through him. That would have been the perfect alibi for him to sneak into the kitchen.

"Just let me sit in peace a little," he groaned, and he began to rummage around in his pockets for his lighter when a thin little hand found his arm.

"Sanji-san! Uncle Zeff will kick your butt again if he catches you smoking near the kitchen!"

The high-pitched, shrieking voice came from the middle of a little head with two enormous, dirty blonde braids sprouting from the top. Its owner went approximately until the sitting cook's shoulder in height, but only because her legs barely even touched the ground in her tiptoeing.

"Hello Chimney," Sanji smiled and kissed the little girl on the back of her hand. "Every day is full of joy if I can spend it in the company of such a beautiful princess like you are~ 3"

A huge grin spread across the girl's face, which made her look even more like a comical doll.

"Hey, Chimney, you haven't been avoiding your Math homework, right?" Luffy asked with a seriousness very unlike him.

"Of course not," she grimaced with disgust, "I just brought Sanji-san something." And with that, she revealed her right hand she had been keeping behind her back, in which she was holding a bright yellow, steaming cup. "It's milky grits with lemon and honey," she explained as the cook carefully took it from her. "The guys in there told me you weren't feeling well. Auntie Kokoro always makes me this when I'm sick."

"F-for me?" The blond whispered, staring at the treat in disbelief.

"Of course it's for you! I've prepared it for the first time ever just for you," she straightened herself up proudly. "I don't want you to get sick!"

"Marry me."

The little girl started giggling.

"Hey, Chimney, you didn't make me any?" Luffy cut in, his voice thick with sulking.

"You bet I didn't! You have just eaten my afternoon snack!"

"I know you have one more!"

"That's auntie Kokoro's!"

Sanji regarded the spat with a smile, while enjoying his sweet grits with a spoon. He remembered the day when Luffy had introduced the five year old girl to them, and had asked Zeff to let her stay until her aunt had finished work. The girl had clung to the black haired boy so much in the beginning that everyone had been shocked to the core when it had turned out that they weren't related. For Kokoro was the older sister of Dadan, who had been asked by Garp to look after his two grandsons, Ace and Luffy, when he had had to depart to oblige to his duties at the marines. And so the children had basically grown up together.

Ever since then, Chimney had usually been spending her afternoons at the restaurant, after Luffy had picked her up from school in between two deliveries. And later, it was from there that Kokoro took her home, after her shift had ended.

The cook finished his special treat. He must have been very deep into his thoughts, for he hadn't noticed that in the meantime, Luffy was telling a story to Chimney with broad gesticulation, whilst the little girl held her tummy as she laughed.

"... And then the water lifted the hose up so high that it fell right into the cake! Shishishishi!"

"Nooooo, no, please...!" The girl cough-giggled, pleading for mercy.

Luffy was grinning proudly when he met Sanji's questioning look.

"I was just telling her about Ace's birthday party."

"Please tell me you left Sabo's belly-dancing act out!"

"Riiiiight! I almost forgot!"

"What? Sabo? What did he do?" The little girl wondered with big, sparkling eyes, after wiping away her tears. Sabo always was the favorite.

Luffy poked her nose.

"I'll tell you when your Math homework is ready!"

"Aaaaaah, not fair!" The little girl pouted, then ran straight for her books.

"Thank you for the grits, princess! It was heavenly!"

"You're welcome!" The blond girl shouted back, then disappeared in the turn of the hallway towards the office.

"This girl is sweeter each day," Sanji mused while searching for his lighter. "Which reminds me, we haven't met with those idiots for a long while."

"Franky's planning some kind of get-together for Saturday. He asked me to tell you."

"I don't think I can go," the cook sighed. He lit his cigarette and blew out a long streak of smoke."Two events are planned for that day, even."

"Dammit. I was hoping to introduce you to someone. I've been wanting to for a while, I think you two would be great friends. Guess what, he once drank Kokoro under the table!"

"Whoa, that _is_ a feat! But I really can't. An external job in the morning and a wedding party in the evening. I'll call Franky later to apologize."

"Ah, it'll be alright. You know what a flexible guy he is."

"Sure I do," Sanji nodded with a grin. "SUUUUUUUUPER flexible."

Luffy's own grin grew wider.

"This didn't sound perverted at all."

The two idiots peered at each other, and laughter broke out of both of them.

"Sa-Sanji..." Luffy panted after they went back to breathing more or less evenly again.

"Huh?"

"Give me some food... I'm starving."

~ oOo ~

The small hall was filled with harsh panting.

Zoro looked over the beaten lot. Most of the kids had sweat their clothes dripping. Pepper and Carrot were standing opposite each other in the front row, staring at each other with stubborn eyes, their teeth clenched tightly together. Onion was lying on the floor at their feet, completely exhausted. The two boys could barely hold onto their bamboo sticks, their moves grew heavy, their shoulders were quivering even in the basic stance.

Zoro nodded his head approvingly. Even though he had driven them mercilessly, nobody from the fifteen members of the group stopped training. Except, of course, the boy with glasses, who had been hit on the nape by one of Carrot's swings and was now lying peacefully at the edge of the tatami.

The amicable, yet powerful aura surrounding the old sensei had persuaded even these children to obey Koshiro's every word, without the man having had to raise his voice even once.

Zoro swung his own stick under his arm and clapped his palms together.

"Alright, alright, that's enough! We'll take a one-hour break!"

The children stumbled onto the flooring with loud moans and groans. While lying there, Pepper and Carrot were debating who's arm could move less. The argument ended with the mentioning of multiple amputation. The longer the green haired man watched them, the bigger his grin grew.

"Hey, Trufa, Pippin! Gather up the third hobbit 'til I'm back!"

Accompanied by the kids' outraged voices, Zoro walked out the door and made his way towards Koshiro's room. If the whole building had been set up like the exact replica of the old one, then he had to look for the thir–

_Toilet._

–fourth room on the left.

He slid the door open and sighed with relief. He managed to find the right room on the other side of it.

Zoro shook his head. He couldn't have lost his way in the place where he had spent almost twenty years of his life. Even the furniture in the room had been arranged according to how he remembered. This took away even the smallest of feelings that he was the victim of some unknown plotting.

His stomach gave another loud growl. Zoro stroked over the haramaki hugging his waist. His body had been trying to notify him ever since morning of the fact that the dry crescent from last night and the morning coffee gulped down in a hurry was worth a rat's fart, thank you very much.

As soon as he set foot inside, he noticed the neatly prepared envelope on top of the round table. Though, before opening it, he stepped to the home altar to light the incense under the picture of a black haired girl. Even though it had been a rare sight, each time Kuina had smiled, she had seemed years younger, and Zoro had always found himself smiling ear-to-ear, as well.

Sometimes, she had almost seemed like an ordinary girl, he continued the thought. One summer, they had decided to catch frogs for dinner, and both of them had fallen into the lake. When Koshiro had seen them, covered in duckweed from head to toe, he had laughed so loudly that he had had to hold his stomach.

"_No one would believe you aren't siblings!"_

The two children had looked at each other in wonder. Zoro had only then noticed that the duckweed and seaweed had dried on Kuina's hair, and with the massive layer of green, she had looked like her hair had been green to begin with. In another minute, all three of them had been laughing themselves hoarse – Koshiro from the sight of the two dirty kids, Zoro at Kuina's hair and Kuina at the laughter of the other two.

Another night, he had been awakened by silent humming. Stepping over the boys lying around him, he had sneaked to the door, and had peeked out of the crack. Kuina had been sitting at the edge of the terrace, in pajamas and a light nightly robe, swinging her legs. She had been stroking the big white cat sitting next to her, its fur almost glowing in the light of the moon.

As Zoro had been standing there, he had recognized Koshiro's favorite songs among the tunes, had noticed the flower pattern on the deep violet robe. A very rare occasion to see her in such girly clothing.

"_Hey, Zoro, what are you standing there for... The toilet's on the other side..."_

Someone had touched his shoulder, an Zoro had almost jumped out of his skin. More children had been starting to stir to the noises, rubbing their eyes.

"_What the...?"_

"_Zoro..."_

"_... what's going on...?"_

The hair had been standing on edge on Zoro's back, and he had been mumbling and pointing outside. One of them had lost his patience and had pushed him aside to have a look.

"Hey, guys!" He had shouted back gleefully. "Glowworms! Zoro found glowworms!"

Suddenly, blankets had been in the air and body had hit against body as the boys had run outside, stepping on each other's heels.

There had been no trace of Kuina until then. Only the fat white cat had been a reminder of her former presence, it having fallen into a calm slumber amongst the buzzing of the jumping and hunting boys.

That night, it had seemed like a few stray green stars had visited the boys' room, who hadn't slept much while gazing at the shiny insects. They had all woken up worn and sleep-deprived the next morning, with big, tired grins on their faces...

Zoro was shaken out of his memories by yet another hurt growl coming from the training hall. He stroked over the corner of his smiling lips, then stepped to the table, rejecting the sneaking shadow of the memory of what had happened just a few weeks after that day in time. He opened the envelope and counted the money his sensei had left him there. It was almost double the amount they had agreed on.

Zoro shook his head.

"Stubborn old man," he murmured and reached for his phone, manually dialing the familiar number by heart. After just a few rings, the call was already received on the other end.

"Luffy...?"

**TBC**


	4. Chapter 4

**Oda owns One Piece, I own my love for his work.**

**Chapter 4**

Luffy closed his mobile phone with a clap, and after shoving it into his jeans back-pocket, he went to look for Chimney.

Zeff's office would have seemed to be the most logical, but in truth, it wasn't really worth checking. Even though, according to the agreement, she would have had to stay in there until picked up, sitting in one place had driven the adventurous little girl to the brink of wasting away physically and mentally as early as on the very first day. After the following few weeks, every kitchen worker, each temporary and regular member of the cleaning staff, all the delivery guys, and even the guests had gotten to know the cheeky little thing, along with her loyal escort, the blue rabbit-like stuffed toy she wouldn't take a step without.

To top it off, she knew by heart what food was stored in which container of the cold storage, so Luffy could use her as his little food thief. To which she gladly obliged – first just on account of her liking him so much, and afterwards for little somethings in return.

After the third left-turn hasn't brought success with it, getting dangerously close to the dry goods storage, Luffy stopped and scratched his head in wonder, just when he could hear familiar noises coming from the main hall. He ran down the short flight of stairs, across the washroom, and leaping out the door, he came to a halt at the bar.

On the stage to his right, the band was just setting up their instruments for the night's event. The musicians went tho and fro with practiced ease around the piano in the center. A ridiculously tall figure was sitting at the sizable instrument, deftly accompanying the improvised drumming melodies of little Chimney sitting next to him, with a huge grin on his face. The composition would have almost been good on the ears, if only the girl hadn't added her non-existent singing talent to it.

According to legend, the dent along the pianist Brook's forehead had come to be when he sang karaoke with Kokoro on one of the Christmas parties. Sadly enough, the enthusiastic little Chimney had inherited her aunt's serious case of non-musicality. Luffy could almost hear the crack spreading further beneath the exuberant afro, driving the ingenious artist closer inch by inch to his early departure of this sad world.

He thought it was the right time to act.

"Oi, Brook!" He headed towards them, waving his arms in the air. "What's up?"

"Luffyyyyy..." The guy with the afro showed visible signs of relief in the suddenly descending silence. "Nothing much, man, just getting ready for tonight's gig. You' gonna be here, too?"

"Heheee, sure, I wouldn't miss it for anything!" The boy with the straw hat grinned, halting his steps when he reached the front of the podium. "Hi guys!"

"Hey Luffy! Are you gonna pig into the wedding cake again?"

"Hey, that only happened once! And how should I have known that they wanted to take the leftovers away? More than half was already missing when it got to me!"

"When it got to the cold storage, you mean," Thomas grinned, with a huge cello in his arms. "I think it was pretty obvious they wanted to have the rest."

"And you didn't bring me any, either," Chimney pouted. "I've heard it was an ice cream cake, to boot!"

"It's why it was in the cold storage," Brook nodded.

"I couldn't bring you any... 'cause Sanji noticed me too fast. I could barely save my own skin, not to mention the food! I couldn't sit for a week after that!"

"Haha, my rear would have been useless for a month at least if Sanji had kicked me in the ass like that," said Ralph while pulling his drum set into the back-corner, dissipating the last ominous cloud from above Brook's head. The little girl was sitting at the edge of the bandstand by then, dangling her feet.

Luffy let his head hang sadly.

"He made me promise not to steal from wedding dinner leftovers ever again..."

"And you're really gonna keep it?" Ralph looked up in wonder.

Not even the shadow of his straw hat could hide the grin spreading across the boy's face.

"Thought so," Thomas snickered.

"Hey, Chimney!"

"Huh?" The little girl glanced at the face of the youth squatting down to her.

"I need some help. In exchange, I'll get you some of tonight's cake. I've heard it's gonna be a candy statue!"

In the girl's eyes, the word 'CANDY' lit up with a bright neon green glow.

"Candy...?! Of course! What do I have to do?!"

The band members laughed aloud in unison, while Luffy picked a pink slip of paper out of his pocket and squeezed it into Chimney's hand.

"The usual. But make sure you're loud enough," the black haired boy winked at her.

"Leave it to me," the grinning little girl winked back, and ran away towards the kitchen.

~oOo~

"Order! We got an order!" The little girl shouted as she ran amongst the forest of busy feet in the kitchen, waving the piece of paper in her hand.

"So early?" Patty turned around from in front of a great pot of boiling stew. "But it's barely two o'clock! The regulations state black on white that we only accept delivery orders after five!"

Chimney stopped abruptly, and making herself smaller, she blinked up at the sous-chef timidly.

"B-but I thought you'd be happy about it..." She sniffled.

The expected effect didn't come long after. The hairy, scary-looking man, who was well on the border of a height of two meters and a weight of two hundred kilos, went bright red from the collar of his shirt to the top of his head, and snatching the girl under his arm, he lifted her up in the air.

"Of course! Of course I'm happy about it! Little star of my life, you're the light in this damn run-down diner!"

With that, he pressed a hairy kiss to the giggling blond girl's cheek, and placed her back down onto the floor. He didn't exactly look it, but if nothing else, he simply loved children. Especially a certain little girl called Chimney.

"Hey, Patty, leave the poor child alone. She'll stop growing if she looks at you any longer," Sanji grumbled, holding a freshly assorted appetizer plate in his hand.

"Shut up! It's not my fault you were already screwed up as a kid!"

"What was that...?!"

"Sanji-san! Sanji-san, look!" Chimney grabbed and clung from his apron and waved the paper snippet in front of his face. "The lady with the nice voice ordered again!"

The blond put the plate down and snatched the letter. His expression turned elated.

"Ah, Monic! Oh, when will I be blessed with hearing your silky voice?" He squeezed the paper piece to his heart, whilst a teardrop rolled down theatrically on his cheek. "Time and space part us, but do not fret! May the meals speak for me, sing my burning love for you! Baron, Leo! Take over for me with the mixed plates and salads!"

The sounds of retching could be heard from multiple directions in the kitchen. Fortunately, Sanji was too carried away to notice any of it. Chimney also made tedious efforts to try and even out her facial expression as she smiled warmly and hurried out. She noticed Luffy waiting at the corner.

"So?"

"You owe me at least double the brittle for this," the little girl announced, rubbing her face where she could still feel the prickling left by the stingy moustache.

Luffy nodded.

"I'll see what I can do." That said, he stroked the pigtailed girl's head, and said girl knocked her heels together, saluting proudly.

"Aye-aye, captain!"

~oOo~

Luffy regarded the eating swordsman next to him quietly. Zoro hadn't said a word ever since he had been handed the package made by Sanji, might the black haired boy have tried how he had wanted to make him talk. He was only graced with a death-stare as his hand involuntarily wandered towards the deliciously steaming fried meat. The green haired man had launched himself onto the food with such greed as if he hadn't eaten a morsel for weeks. Which was, of course, not the case at all, seeing as it was the second week of Luffy bringing him bentos from Sanji.

Finally, Zoro lowered the soup bowl from his mouth to let out a satisfied sigh. A complacent grin spread across the black-hair's cheeks.

"You've become an addict now, huh?"

Zoro set the bowl down beside him and threw himself back into lying down. The warm meal and the fantastic combination of tastes made a pleasant buzzing tickle throughout his body. He felt the strength returning to his arms and legs. Still tasting some of the food on his tongue, he glanced at the boy.

"No. Not really."

Luffy broke out laughing:

"Hahaha! I see. Then you don't wanna eat this anymore, right?"

A bamboo sword cut into the carpet, right next to his fingers sneaking towards the soup.

"Jeez!" He squeaked, and pushed the inevitably ever-present straw hat back on his head, which had slipped forward onto his brow. "Lucky this isn't sharp."

"Get your grabby-hands near my food again," Zoro's voice was frighteningly calm as he raised the end of the sword to the boy's nose, "and we'll see how well I can slice with it."

"So you like it after all."

"Well... It's edible, kind of," he said, taking another gulp from the still lukewarm soup. "Besides," he continued, "why don't you eat in the restaurant? Since you're lazing around there the whole day, anyway."

Luffy's face distorted into an ungraceful frown.

"I'm not lazing around. I'm doing overtime! Who knows, an important call might come! Iceburg, for example, calls us pretty often nowadays around lunch time."

"Even the mayor eats at the place? This Baratie must be really something."

"It is! And even the takeout ordering period is just for show. Old man Zeff feeds everyone who winds up there hungry, or asks for it nicely, anyway. But at least he has a reason to pay overtime like this," the boy giggled, clapping the soles of his shoes together. "I still need some parts for the Merry."

"Right," Zoro mumbled with his mouth full, "how's it going with the minivan?"

"Miiiiini? You really didn't see it recen– AGH, Zoro! Watch where you spill your food!"

"Sorry," Zoro wiped his mouth with the back of his hands. "Didn't know you've gotten so finicky with your clothes."

"Me? Nah. But Sanji's gonna kill me if I wind up at the restaurant in a dirty uniform. If it was my own food, at least..." He whined, throwing longing glances at the pile of boxes at the swordsman's feet.

"... Sanji?"

"Ah, yeah! The guy I've told you about, remember? He made all this. I can't wait until you two get to know each other! I think you two'd get along!"

"Uhuh..." Zoro murmured offhandedly, buried deep at the bottom of a noodle box, then he cried out in triumph upon having pinched the last piece of reddish brown shrimp between his chopsticks. Barely in a blink of an eye, however, the shrimp was gone, and the ends of the sticks were leaning towards one another, empty.

"LUFFY!"

**TBC**

_Hello guys, did you missed me? :D Well here I am, fooling around again, playing with your ZoSan-waiting feels and stuff. I think you're figured out now it won't be a 'quick-and-fuck' process, because I reeeeeeeeeeally like writing plot, and technically enjoy your suffering, because it gives me more HP so I can level up from crossroad demon to King of Hell. (I hope there's somebody who understands this reference...XD) So guys, read and review, hit me with your best shot! Don't hold back, it was my birthday some days before, and I want reviews for presents~_


	5. Chapter 5

_**Translator's note:** Let's all sign a petition to rename Kohza to Frodo. All in favor, raise your hand~!_

**Chapter 5**

„And this one?"

Nami glanced into the direction of the mobile phone in Vivi's hand.

"Honey, I can't see a darn thing from here. Come closer, will you?"

The blue haired girl sighed big and reluctantly got up from her seat, almost brushing the box with the remnants of pizza down onto the floor with her elbow as she leaned near the dish-rack.

"Could it be that it's time for you to get a new pair of glasses?"

"I feel offended! I only wear the ones I have if my eyes get tired from working until late, anyway."

"But you're always working late."

"Occupational hazard. Now let me see," the red haired girl turned to Vivi once again, wiping the dishwashing foam off her arms. Her forehead almost instantly creased together when she saw the jewelry appearing on the phone's display. Vivi could see how Nami started chewing the inside of her mouth.

"Weeeeeeell..."

"No."

"Giant no."

"Super no."

"Exactly." The redhead leaned over the display to watch as Vivi was typing the answer. "What's 'one week'?"

The blue-hair let out a quiet giggle.

"You know, before I let Kohza go, I thought of a little game for him. Just for good measure."

"A game?"

"Quite right," Vivi's smile spread wider as she pressed the 'SEND' button. "To motivate him a bit, I invented a ranking system. Depending on how crappy his choice is, the ranking is one week, two weeks, a month and so forth. The game begins when we've had enough of his fooling around."

"So 'one week' means...?"

"No sex."

"Ouch!" Nami remained silent for a couple of seconds, then gave the other girl a questioning look. "And are we fed up yet?"

"Not in the least. These were definitely better than the last fifteen. My darling's making progress."

"Then why did y– _Ahaaa!"_

"That's right," Vivi smirked. "I want to see him panic."

Nami folded her arms over her breasts and looked at her friend in a quite satisfied manner.

"You evil, evil girl. I'm proud of you."

Vivi laughed and winked at Nami:

"I've had a great mentor."

~oOo~

Kohza slicked his hair back with his left hand. He even styled it with the help of the pearls of sweat accumulating on his forehead.

It was bad. Very bad. He was trapped. In a trap approximately as huge as he had been in when he had to talk the D. brothers out of a predicament with Smoker. Fortunately enough, Luffy was blessed with a ridiculously small amount of artistic talent, so it hadn't been that hard to make the cop believe that he had been actually illustrated as stepping into a big piece of meat instead of a pile of dog shit, on the graffiti still fresh on the wall of the police headquarters.

Kohza's teeth still clattered whenever he thought back on that incident. Smoker had listened to his blabbering for at least a straight hour, with his unmoving gaze fixed onto him while the paint had been slowly drying onto his clothes. If the white haired man, in the end, had believed that they had just chased away the original culprits and had only used the spray-cans to try and make amends to the disgusting joke, they never found out.

He took a deep breath to try to loosen his knotted nerves, and he exhaled it while typing his answer.

"_Just now it was only three days! How did we get to a week?! K."_

"_Thanks to the wonders of evolution. How is it coming along? V."_

"_This is just cruel! We agreed on the next step being five days! I want my five days back! Not fair! K."_

"_Get your ass back here, or one week will be the default measure from now on. Furthermore, the amount doubles at the end of each unsuccessful hour. Good luck! :) N."_

The poor guy was tearing at his hair.

"I'm gonna die. I'm gonna become a monk. I'm done for," he mumbled.

"Hey bro," a large hand landed heavily on his shoulder, "you okay? You seem a little pale. And you look like you shrank..." The blue haired man examined him with his head tilted to the side. "...a good half a meter."

Kohza clenched his closed mobile phone to his chest, then glanced over his shoulder. As soon as his eyes met those staring down on him, he whirled around, and gripped the two sides of the Hawaii patterned shirt.

"CUTTYYY!"

The gigantic man backed away a few steps with his hands in the air. Cutty Flam, also known as Cyborg Franky's real name was hardly ever heard. Mostly only when some heavy stuff went down and the shit was already neck-deep. Franky himself had only heard it – in non-business related situations – on three occasions in the last ten years. And on two out of three from Robin. He only shuddered ever so slightly from the memory of those two times, instinctively trying to protect his much-suffered 'crown jewels'.

"Whoa-whoa! Man, chill! I know it's a sentimental moment, but... Aaaah, dammit all to hell, who even cares!"

The giant hugged the brown haired man to his enormous chest, patting his back with his right hand, all the while breaking out in loud sobbing in the middle of the jewelry shop. Customers with a faint heart thought it for the better to leave the premises, while others just inched closer to the display cabinets, as far away from the scene as they only could. Only the resigned saleswoman called Emma, with eyes that had probably seen a lot already, showed no facial signs of astonishment. True, even the wrinkles ran along her forehead in horizontally parallel, straight lines.

Said woman folded the curtains to the side to disappear into her office for a few moments, only to step forth to the scene once more while balancing a small tray on her palm. She placed her hand onto Franky's arm.

"Sir..."

Franky turned to look at her, his face moist with tears. Emma raised one of the paper cups.

"On the house."

The man nodded, and gulped the steaming hot chocolate down in one go.

"Thank you."

"Sir?"

The addressed Kohza took the other cup with a shaky hand. Emma then turned on her heels without another word, and left the two of them alone. Franky wiped his eyes with his thumb and glanced at Kohza. The now crinkled man was staring into his drink while muttering incoherently. The guy with the blue 'do was really starting to worry.

"Hey kiddo, don't work yourself up about–"

"... going to move to a monastery. That's it for me. I might just as well cut my balls off and store them away in a pickle jar. Or I could pulverize them and sprinkle them onto my gruel. I bet Sanji knows some good recipes..."

Franky carefully took the cup from his friend's hand and sniffed into it. Before he could make out any kind of harmful material mixed into it, the startled giant was pulled down to the eye-level of a frantic Kohza by the sleeves of his shirt.

"Cutty! Do you even have the faintest idea what kind of jewelry Robin likes?!"

Franky gave it some thought. Kohza took the wrinkles that were spawning on his forehead and between his eyebrows for a good sign.

"Think she likes..." The large man said slowly, rubbing his chin. "... maybe stuff more... _special_. D'you remember her bracelets with the engraved initials? She wears those all the time."

"Good," the blond man nodded, "finally some useful information." He pondered some more, before speaking up again: "What's the first thing that comes to mind when you think of her?"

A huge grin immediately spread along Franky's face. Kohza raised his hands in rejection.

"Anything else but _that!"_

Franky's face showed momentary disappointment, then he sank back into thinking.

"A lily," he uttered with a dreamy expression. "A lily, in the garden of a haunted castle."

The shorter man nodded approvingly. The blue-haired guy could be a huge, sappy romantic if he wanted to be. Or when he didn't pay attention.

Kohza stepped to the counter and cleared his throat.

"Excuse me."

"Yes?" Emma glanced up at him.

"Could you please show us some of your more special jewelry? Maybe in black, purple or blue colors?"

"Certainly." Emma started to pull the glass cabinet's drawers out one by one, until she reached the very last one. Franky leaned over Kohza's shoulder to watch the shop owner put a tiny velvet tray onto the counter. The two men reached all but at the same time for the ring sparkling in the middle. They lifted it up high, and turned it around a couple of times to behold it in the yellow light of the lamp.

"Perfect."

~oOo~

While Franky was busy with paying, Kohza quickly shot some pictures of the ring.

"What 'cha doin', bro?" Franky peeked over his shoulder.

Oh shit.

"I-I was just..."

"You sleaze, I get it now!" Franky grinned. Kohza raised an eyebrow at him.

"Huh?"

"You're collecting reference, aren't you?" The 'cyborg' took the phone without a word, and leafed through the snapshots. "Oh, these're almost exactly the ones we've been looking at! Think Vivi would prefer something simpler, tho'," he winked at his friend as he handed his mobile back to him.

"Wha... Wai– Ah, um, yeah," the blond nodded quickly. Heat spread across his cheeks, setting even his ears aflame. "That's exactly how it is. You got me there, haha...!"

Tears started to well again in Franky's eyes. He clapped Kohza on the shoulder:

"Oh, these kiddos grow up so fast!" He sighed, and wiping his face, he turned back to the saleswoman.

Kohza, meanwhile, took this opportunity to sneak into the other end of the shop and send the pictures he had made.

~oOo~

Vivi clapped her phone open, and took a glance on the display. Nami almost dropped the frying pan full of half-baked pancake from the loud scream.

"W-what happened?"

"Yesss!" Vivi turned to look at her, then back at her phone. A wide grin played over her lips.

The redhead turned the flame off, and stepping around the furniture in the apartment, she walked over to her friend. In the next moment, her eyes grew wide, and she clasped her hands to her mouth.

"Oh my goodness!"

"_One ring to rule them all,"_ Vivi whispered.

Nami nodded to that. On the occasion of the previous movie night, where more or less every one of them had gathered, they had held a Lord Of The Rings marathon. It had been a rough round. The after-effects were still notable on the crew. That was particularly true for the blue haired girl, who had just acquainted herself with the trilogy that night.

That aside, one could admit, the ring was truly beautiful. Finely-crafted, black-gold patterns of vines and laces embraced the three shapely, violet gemstones embedded in the middle. Small, sparkling diamonds twinkled on either sides of the tree jewels, as well as along the twists and turns of the vines.

"_Preciousssss..." _Nami's quotation might have not been similar in sounding, but it sure was on-par in creepiness.

"I can't believe they did it."

"It's worth the praise. They'd deserve a reward."

Vivi's face lit up in a faint blush. Which, of course, didn't fail to catch the red haired girl's attention.

"Ooooh~ Was there another side to the game, hmmm~?"

The other girl's cheeks turned from a light pink shade into a dark crimson. She quickly whipped her head away from the smirking Nami and started typing.

"First, let's just call the hobbits back from Isengard."

~oOo~

"So, is everything set?"

"Of course. Or it will be, when Franky finally gathers his courage to stand before Robin."

"Uh-oh. That doesn't sound too convincing," Nami sighed, having successfully put her boots on.

Vivi began to chuckle silently. That matched her personality so much more.

"He's almost ready, according to Usopp. He and Chopper have been his mental supports for the past couple of weeks. So, theoretically, he could ask her any minute now."

"_Theoretically,"_ the redhead repeated, reaching for her coat. "It's hard to believe that someone who's been in on every possible crazyness would be such a scaredy-cat when it's time to ask for his beloved's hand. Do you remember that night, last summer?"

"When the two of them drove butt naked around town on a motorbike while singing Backstreet Boys?"

The mere memory of it had them shaking with laughter.

"I bet neither of them want to play poke with Lucci ever again! Though I have a feeling Robin didn't exactly aim for winning..."

"That man is a real demon. But I wouldn't have minded him losing instead..."

"Vivi!" The redhead snapped at her. "You basically count as married already! For how many years have you known Kohza? Ten?"

"That's right. But I swore fealty," the girl shrugged, "not blindness."

All of a sudden, the key was turned in the lock, the door-handle was pushed down, and there stood the aforementioned man in the doorway, soaking wet from head to toe. Tiny raindrops were falling from his hair down near his boots.

"Speak of the devil. Welcome home," Nami grinned, and taking over the door-handle from him, she stepped past him outside.

"Good–" Kohza raised his hand to wave, but the door had been closed long before that. "–bye. What the hell was tha–? WOAH!"

Vivi promptly grabbed his coat to pull him close, and pressed her lips against his.

"Nothing special," she whispered to the man's parting lips, and with a shove, made his coat heavy with rain fall down onto the floor. "However, the beacons are lit," she spoke on in hushed murmurs as her hands slipped underneath the moist shirt on his back, "and the aid of every able-bodied man is called upon."

Grinning, Kohza placed his hands onto her waist, and after he had lifted the giggling girl up, he made his way with her into the apartment.

"_And Rohan will answer!"_

~oOo~

Sanji boarded the train with a quiet groan. The toe-cap of his shoe got hitched in the edge of the doorstep, but luckily, he managed to regain his balance before he could have fallen against anyone. The crowd sucked him in within a heartbeat, and he was helplessly drifting to and fro with it. The blond let his exhausted body be carried with the mass moving as one living being, when during a turn, he spotted an empty seat. He hastily grabbed the handrail right next to it and plopped down. Dropping his head back onto the windowsill, he closed his eyes and heaved a relieved sigh.

"Urgh. The last time I saw something as nasty as you was when the elephant raised its leg in the zoo."

Pain shot into Sanji's neck as he whirled his head up. Yes, there was indeed the green haired dude from that morning sitting next to him. Arms folded on his chest, blank face.

"Hello, fuckface."

"Oh no, it really _is_ you. And here I thought I had a good day," Zoro shook his head.

"Why the hell did you sit next to me, then, if you hate my guts so much?"

"Sat next to you my ass. It was you who almost crashed onto me like a dried-up old fart."

Sanji turned to look at him.

"Agh," he waved the guy off. "I would have noticed an ugly mug like that for sure."

"Then tell me, _princess:_ how did the wing of my jacket get under your ass?"

And so it was. The blond leaned to the side a bit to let the piece of clothing be pulled out from beneath him. As he was about to sit back, the row of people started moving anew, and a schoolboy's bag crashed into his face with full force. Grumbling, he leaned his back against the seat again.

"Hey," the green haired man poked his elbow into his side, "you okay? You look like shit. Hope you're not gonna puke your guts out in here."

"Shut up," Sanji growled at him, whilst massaging the bridge of his nose. "Work was just too much today. This is the first time I can finally sit my ass down, and lo and behold, half the town's riding on this piece of shit train! Right now I need people like a fucking hole in the head! And to top it off, I just _had _to leave my goddamn headphones at home today, screw it all to fucking hell!"

The man with green hair did not respond. Sanji tried to shut his surroundings out by focusing on the monotonous rattling of the train.

"Hey," a finger started to prod the side of his jeans-leg.

"What?"

Zoro, in the meantime, had leaned forward, supporting himself on his knees with help of his elbows. He was holding one half of a pair of earphones in his hand. Sanji followed its string with his eyes; the other half was in the man's left ear. The cook noticed only then the three long golden earrings hanging from that same ear. He hesitated for a brief moment, then took the small plug.

_At least I'll have a reason to make fun of you if your taste in music sucks,_ he added mentally – on the condition that the AC/DC badge was only shimmering on the guy's baseball cap for trend purposes.

Zoro took that as a good sign, and started the playback.

After a short intro, a woman with a mysterious tone of voice started to sing from the earphones. Her voice crept under the blond's skin; he felt as though tiny fingers would caress him beneath the surface.

"_Time it took us  
To where the water was  
That's what the water gave me –  
And time goes quicker  
Between the two of us.  
Oh, my love, don't forsake me,  
Take what the water gave me"_

The cook's muscles loosened up, the nervous tension relinquished in his shoulders, and his arms slid into his lap. His eyelids so far opened in a slit have fallen shut.

"_Lay me down;  
Let the only sound  
Be the overflow –  
Pockets full of stones_

_Lay me down;  
Let the only sound  
Be the overflow –"_

The swordsman noticed the change soon enough. He pulled on the string, and while carefully leaning over the other man, he pushed the other half of the earphones into the blond's ear. Said blond hardly stirred from the unexpected contact.

And so they traveled on, with the cook sunken into the music, and the swordsman with his arms folded, expressionlessly watching the crowd.

~oOo~

A few minutes later, Sanji jolted awake suddenly.

"Where are we?!" After having had a look at the messaging screen, he could breathe easy again. "Phew, thank God. I thought I'd fallen asleep. I'm getting off at the next stop. Thanks a lot, Marimo."

Zoro stared down at the earplugs that were squeezed into his palm. _Marimo?!_

"You're welcome, shitty cook. If you need someone to baby you next time, don't be shy to ask."

"Ba–?! Hey! How did you know I'm a cook?!"

Zoro grinned wide. Bullseye.

"There were pink ducklings on your underpants this morning, right? In chef's hats, if I remember right. Very remarkable, if you ask me. Who would even wear shit like that?"

Sanji's face turned beet-red as a mix of embarrassment and anger appeared on his face. He already opened his mouth to respond, when the doors opened and the mass of people spilled out onto the pier, taking him with them, of course. As soon as he could, though, he turned around to yell on top of his lungs:

"You stinkin' bastard! I'm going to kick you in the ass until you can lick your own shit from the toe of my shoe with your own fucking mouth! I'm gonna fillet you!"

Zoro was shaking with his laughs as he extended a middle finger towards the blond. The train slowly continued on its journey, leaving the relentlessly spitting and cussing blond's curses far behind.

That wasn't half bad.

* * *

**TBC**

_~ be bad, guys. sorry for the wait, but at least I passed my finals with A+. yay!~_


End file.
